Chapter Thirty-Nine: Renewal Through Destruction

A grimace seemed to twist the stiff features of Master Mountain Buddha; the crimson in his eyes flickered without pause. Step by ponderous step, he advanced—each footfall made the earth tremble, the houses shudder. Yang Fan appeared to have stumbled upon a tremendous secret, yet his mind was veiled in a haze.

"Intimidate!" he invoked the divine power once again. Yang Fan had sensed that only when this ability flared was the influence upon him at its weakest, and Master Mountain Buddha the most disarrayed.

Clarity returned to his mind, thoughts racing and converging upon a single conclusion. "I understand now, I truly understand!" His face contorted, his eyes widened, still overcome with shock.

Back in the marsh, using his earth sense, he had first discovered the ruined temple. There had been no sign of life then—not the white fox, nor Master Mountain Buddha. No trace of living beings, only a faint, precious radiance. Yet, there had been a Buddha statue in the temple.

As he drew near, his memory had inexplicably been meddled with, making him forget that detail. When Master Mountain Buddha appeared, the statue within the hall vanished. The master’s towering, burly frame—almost two and a half meters tall, broad-shouldered, his face lined as though chiseled from stone, utterly expressionless—wasn’t this the statue itself?

During his introduction, Master Mountain Buddha had seemed confused, finally calling himself by that name—Mountain Buddha. Was that not simply a stone statue, a Buddha image? Master Mountain Buddha was the statue!

"Could a statue possess a spirit?" Was it truly a spirit, or rather some demon? Moreover, it seemed there were two conflicting wills within.

A chill crept over Yang Fan’s scalp. Seeing the master halt, the red glow in his eyes flickering in and out, boldness surged within Yang Fan. Once more, he unleashed the divine power of Intimidation and leapt up.

Gale Slash.

Yang Fan struck—the Black Cloud Blade sliced through the air with a shriek, falling upon the master’s brow. It was a desperate blow, poured with all his strength.

A terrible force rebounded; the Black Cloud Blade snapped in two, sending Yang Fan hurtling backward. Disbelief flashed across his face as he crashed onto a pile of bones, nearly shattering his organs. Cracks split his arms, the bones threatening to break.

He glanced at the broken blade. It was ruined.

"It didn't hurt him at all—the blade broke instead!" Damn it! What on earth was this thing?

"You—you dared strike the Old Buddha! I’ll catch you, crush you, grind you to dust! I’ll eat your flesh, gnaw your bones, suck your marrow, drink your brains!" The red glow in the master's eyes burned brighter—one step, and he was upon Yang Fan.

"Intimidate!" Yang Fan summoned his power again. In that instant of stiffness, he rolled away to the other side.

"Swift Step!" He triggered the ability, ready to spring away, but the space around him grew heavy. The very air seemed to twist, pressing down with a dreadful force, slowing him to a crawl. He couldn’t even walk, let alone run.

"Is this the end for me?"

Despair washed over Yang Fan. As he turned, he saw the red light in the master's eyes blaze inches outward, his stiff face twisted into a mask of savagery and brutality.

"I can still gamble on one last chance!" Yang Fan’s expression contorted. He had a sliver of vitality left.

Should he channel it into his awakening? No...

He stared at Master Mountain Buddha, realization striking—this was a statue, likely carved from stone. Even if it were shaped from clay, it would still count.

"Awakened Divine Power—Stone Splitter!"

Yang Fan knew he had no other recourse; he could only stake everything on this. In the next moment, a strange force suffused his limbs and bones; he felt transformed, though he couldn’t say how. Knowledge of how to use Stone Splitter seemed to flow naturally into his mind, as if he had always known it.

"Intimidate!" Yang Fan struck again. The master paused slightly, the red light only flickering faintly—Yang Fan sensed trouble. With a sweep of his broken blade, he invoked:

"Stone Splitter!"

Vital energy drained from him, not forming a blade of light but transforming into a mysterious force. The master's brow cracked open—split halfway through.

There was no brain matter; instead, a bead was revealed, shrouded in black mist. But the mist had been torn open.

"Mental Assault—hurry!" Master Mountain Buddha suddenly spoke, urgent and animated.

"Intimidate!" "Stone Splitter!" Yang Fan wasted no time—his will surged forth, and the black mist visibly faded. Another stroke split the head in two.

His body went limp, nearly collapsing—he was utterly spent. Intimidation was one thing, but Stone Splitter drained both vigor and spirit immensely. Yet the head was split open, the chest torn nearly in half. The black mist around the bead had thinned greatly, golden light now bursting within, entangling with the darkness.

"Intimidate!" "Intimidate!" "Intimidate!" Yang Fan forced the power again and again, three times in quick succession, until he was utterly drained and slumped to the ground.

He hastily drove the broken blade into the earth, propping himself up on one knee to keep from falling.

"I have done all I can; fate will decide the rest."

Yang Fan sat back, quietly watching Master Mountain Buddha.

What a wretched state. The head was split in two, the central bead casting rays of golden light, completely suppressing the blackness, which was vanishing rapidly.

"What kind of being is this?" Yang Fan thought. "His head is split open, and he still lives!"

"Could it be that at a certain level, spirit or soul can exist independently?" He had no answer. Still, the sight was unsettling. He, however, felt numb.

A thought, and his own status appeared before him:

[Seal Holder: Yang Fan]
[Fate: Mountain Patrol Envoy]
[Awakening: 30%]
[Awakened Divine Powers: Qi Devour, Earth Sense, Intimidate, Qi Lock, Swift Step, Earth Surge, Night Vision, Stone Splitter]
[Earth Essence Qi: 1.6]
[Cultivation: Martial Path, Eighth Rank]

Not much change. A sliver of essence remained. He had gained Stone Splitter, whose terrible and unreasonable power was clear—it had cracked a skull that could shatter his Black Cloud Blade. Though the cost was great.

Yang Fan reflected on the sources of power for his various abilities: Qi Devour was cultivation; Earth Sense, Night Vision, and Intimidate fell under the mental domain, consuming little vital energy; Qi Lock, Swift Step, Earth Surge, and Stone Splitter mainly drained vigor, with some mental exhaustion, in varying degrees.

A hum resounded—the void quivered.

Yang Fan focused. Between the halves of the skull, the bead radiated golden light, the blackness now completely eradicated. Just then, a hoarse voice echoed:

"You cannot kill me. Wait—when I return, I shall make you my puppet. Even when I lay dying, grievously wounded, you failed to fully refine me across endless ages. Now, I have broken and reformed—how can you hope to succeed? No, this time I will destroy you completely, to atone for my own sins!"

The voice was calm. Then Yang Fan witnessed the unthinkable—the golden bead suddenly shattered, turning into liquid. The split skull rapidly healed, not a trace of the wound remaining. The massive body shone with golden light, black vapors forced out only to be dissolved at once. The body shrank in size, the stiff face softening.

Soon, Master Mountain Buddha had shrunk to about one meter eighty; the chiseled lines of his face faded, revealing a true human visage—subtle expression, ruddy and bright. Hair sprouted atop his head, growing to his waist in a blink, before falling away into ash.

The golden light receded. He pressed his palms together and bowed to Yang Fan. "Amitabha. Mountain Buddha thanks Benefactor Yang!"

"Please, the honor is mine, Master," Yang Fan replied, regaining some composure and rising quickly. "Are you well again?"

"I am," Master Mountain Buddha laughed, waving his sleeve with casual grace. He sat upon the ground, gesturing to the spot opposite. "Please, Brother Yang, be seated!"

"That is truly good to hear!" Yang Fan sighed in relief at the change in address. "May I ask, brother, how should I address you?"

"I am who I am, and yet not who I was. The past is but drifting clouds. From this day on, I am Mountain Buddha, and Mountain Buddha is me. You may call me Brother Mountain Buddha, or Master Mountain Buddha as you wish," he replied with a smile.

"Brother Mountain Buddha, what on earth happened here?" Yang Fan seized the moment, eyes shining with curiosity.

"Ah, that's a long story—like a child without a mother, it'll take a while to tell!" Master Mountain Buddha’s words nearly made Yang Fan choke with laughter.

Such a master—coarse, utterly unrefined. But I like him, Yang Fan thought, eyes bright as he listened to the astonishing tale unfold.